Facing the World Without Dad

This is a picture of the sign that sat outside Norfolk’s 219 American Bistro on Monday. Norfolk Police Officer Victor Decker was found dead in Virginia Beach last Tuesday morning. He was found on the ground beside his truck parked along Oceana Boulevard and he still had his police badge hanging around his neck.

Officer Victor Decker

Here is a Wavy.com link that will take you to the stories we’ve done since that day.

I snapped that picture outside the restaurant because I spent a lot of the evening Monday standing right next to it. During Wavy’s 5, 5:30 and 6pm newscasts, I reported live from outside 219 American Bistro on Granby Street. What was going on inside the restaurant was something all of Hampton Roads should be proud of. The co-owner of 219 Sture Sigfred made a generous offer that night, one that caught the attention of this community. He and fellow owners decided they would take 25% of the days total profits, match that amount in cash, then donate it to the Victor Decker Memorial Fund for Officer Decker’s wife and baby girl.

Dawn Decker made a plea to find her husbands killer.

Here is a link to his wife, Dawn Decker’s emotional pleas to help find her husbands killer.

The event at 219 was a huge success. In fact, from the lunch crowd to the dinner crowd every table was full. As I waited outside the restaurant I watched people going in .. fellow police officers, residents that knew Decker from his patrol beat and lots and lots of parents with little one’s in their arms. One of those parents with a baby was Dawn Decker and daughter Charlotte. I think any parent will agree with me, the idea of a child growing up not knowing their Mom or Dad because a violent act has taken a life, is unimaginable. What do you say? How do you let that child know what happened?

I did a lot of talking that night with Sture, 219′s co-owner and the resolution we came to is this: Charlotte will never know her Dad, but she will see pictures and video of the event I was covering that night in honor of him. The outpouring of support will hopefully, in some way, let her know how much her Dad meant to this community. At the end of the day, everyone involved in Monday’s fundraiser can know that they did a small part in letting that little girl know who her Dad was.

This story isn’t new, but as of this blog .. there are no clues as to who did this. And why. Anyone with information that could help police in this case is asked to call Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP. The reward for information leading to an arrest in the case has been increased to $2,000. That’s including $1,000 from Crime Line and an additional $1,000 from the VGIA.

Decker's funeral service

Officer Decker was laid to rest Saturday at Rock Church in Virginia Beach.

Anyone who knows anything, please make contact with police and bring this family some closure. They deserve it.

One Response to “Facing the World Without Dad”

Next Saturday November 13th is the Victor Decker Memorial Poker Run. If you have a motorcycle or not please come out and donate to his family at Bayside Harley or Boneshakers.

Registration starts at 9-10AM, last bike out at 11AM. $10 rider, $5 passenger. Ending at BoneShakers with a buffet, door prizes, 50/50 raffle, silent and live auctions. All proceeds benefit the Decker Family.